PS5 Is the Second Fastest Selling PlayStation Ever in the US, Despite Price Hikes and Production Issues

Unlike some, I think this generation has been quite possibly the best so far. Yes, there have been problems (eg Sony's LS push, the 'release broken and maybe patch later' attitude of some 3rd party games) , but overall I've been very happy.

The quality of Sony 1st party studio games, and the Pro (I like the mid gen refreshes), being 2 of my highlights.

Edit: and obviously 60fps, and SSD's have been real game changers figuratively and literally for this gen.

@Rich33 I completely agree. I try to focus on finding and playing cool games rather than whinging every day.

Off topic (will delete if a article comes out). But how come KCD2 getting snubbed so much on PS recently? no article that the 3rd DLC is out, and secondly it has just reached 4M copies sold! considering it's one of the top nods for GOTY, I think it deserves as much attention as E33...

@Rich33 I wouldn’t say the best, but I agree that most have been far too critical and unnecessarily so. Perhaps many forget, or perhaps they haven’t lived and gamed through the PS1 and PS2 eras, but PlayStation was never historically a first party powerhouse with consistent output.

It wasn’t until the PS3 was getting its butt kicked by 360 that Sony found a path forward by creating multiple GotY winning first party exclusives. Until this point, PlayStation had always been the most developer friendly, de facto third party machine.

I don't regret getting a PS5

PS5‘s big advantage over PS4 is the absence of a strong Xbox. While the Xbox One was a somewhat weak contender, the even lower sales numbers of Xbox Series X/S are an indicator that many Xboys moved to Team Blue.

Check this graph. The combined numbers of this generation are even shrinking compared to gen 8 and gen 7:

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/465968/ps5-and-xbox-series-xs-vs-ps4-and-xbox-one-sales-comparison-august-2025/

@Oram77 was wondering too...

Honestly, we hear so much about PlayStation and Switch breaking records that I'm completely numb to it at this point.

People don't see it but I think Backwards Compatibility plays a huge part too. With digital sales rising you don't expect me to abandon all my PS4 games have accrued over the years and buy an Xbox. It's the same PS4 owners buying PS5s. Plus what @Max_the_German said too, there really hasn't been any competition since Xbox 360, and that's why they're not even reducing the price after almost 5 years.

@Rich33 The generation, in general, has been great. PlayStation's output? I wouldn't say so.

I don't think Sony's put out anything on the level of Bloodborne, The Last of Us, and Shadow of the Colossus so far. And I think it's undisputed fact at this point that they've put out significantly less than any generation beforehand.

They still release high quality games. But not at the quality or quantity standards I'd expect from them.

For me, PS5's biggest issue is that it doesn't have many exclusives. Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2 are there now, but a PC release is certainly on the horizon for both (if not already confirmed). So, if my PC can play all the games that come out on PS5 and all the games that come out on Xbox, why get either one?

I would like to see a stronger focus on making the next PlayStation either a very unique place to play or a better value place to play than my PC, because if all they offer is a straight hardware upgrade, I may skip PlayStation the next generation and just play their (amazing) games when they inevitably come to Steam.

It is THE console to get this generation if you want to play AAA releases. Hell, many of my friends got one in the past couple years just to play Fortnite and then that Marvel game. If you don't want to get a gaming PC, it's really the only option.

@MamaSymphonia The point of consoles is to avoid PC-BS. But if that doesn’t bother you, go right ahead!

Worst PlayStation console ever.

PS3 got not one, two or even three but FOUR top tier all-time great games, namely: Demon’s Souls, Uncharted 2, Journey and The Last Of Us. PS5 hasn’t had ONE all-time great game yet from first party studios.

You can talk about success all you want because it’s like a snowball effect, but the facts speak for themselves. PlayStation has NEVER looked and been more boring, annoying and yawn inducing since its inception.

Looking back at the PS2's weak first party offerings compared to the competition, I’d take that over what we have now because at least the games back then didn’t FEEL like watered down, live service wannabe games. They were full blown releases.

@Balaam_ @ButterySmooth30FPS
I like a good moan too! Lol. But at the end of the day, I try to take a more 'overall' viewpoint, and have been very happy.

Balaam - I quite agree with you regarding Sony games and PS3. Its likely less thought about regarding PS1/2 because there were a lot more 3rd party games that 'ended up' exclusive to 1 platform or another, for various reasons. Then Xbox360 came along and Sony needed to evolve.

The price hasn't been hiked. The value of the currency went down due to printing trillions.

It's a perception issue as to the person holding the devaluing paper notes, it looks like the price is going up.

If you get in your car and put it in reverse, it looks like the car parked next to you is moving forward....

Happy 5th Anniversary PS5 ! 😊

PS5 currently is my number 1 console from all my video game machines I have (both Nintendo and PlayStation) to play 3rd party kids games.
Thank you Outright Games for the BLUEY, Barbie, Paw Patrol games.
Thank you Level-5 for the Fantasy Life I.
I played THE SIMS 4 PS4 on my PS5 and have accumulated the most gameplay hours from all my PS4 & PS5 games (almost 600 hours gameplay).
I love my PS5. 😊

@MidnightDragonDX Can I ask why?

PS3 and PS4 were my favorite for actual exclusives. PS5 for me has mostly been about playing Indies and others that only previously lived on PC because previous consoles couldn't handle them. It looks like PS5 has had some fantastic games like Astrobot, I just haven't played them. I think Death Stranding 2 was the only big title I played this year... and I never finished it.

@RoomWithaMoose
Personally, I think Sony's output has never been better - though I do agree it could have been a lot better without the live service push, and we had a year or so that was sparse.

For me GOWR (I enjoyed the 1st game a lot, but it plays far better on PS5, and Ragnarok is just better imo), the Spiderman games (again 1 was good, but MM was as good, and 2 is better), Astro bot and playroom, HFW, and GoY (a vast improvement in my eyes over GoT) have all been real GOTY level highlights. A number of others have also been very high quality including DS remake, and R&C RA.

I don't begrudge them the remakes either, as in general I think they have done them to such high standards.

@RoomWithaMoose Quantity I agree with, but the quality has been stellar.

Of course what sort of games you want to play is subjective, but in technical terms Sony are one of the few publishers I'm okay with buying on day one.

@MamaSymphonia

I would like to see a stronger focus on making the next PlayStation either a very unique place to play or a better value place to play than my PC

.

The PS5 was great value. The €500 I paid for mine at launch five years ago wouldn't have bought me a PC that can run games like Death Stranding 2 or Horizon Forbidden West.

@MrPeanutbutterz @Rich33 I can respect your guys' opinions. And I'm not saying Sony's modern stuff is bad.

But, for me, Ragnarok didn't best GoW 1 or 2, the Spider-Mans are Insomniac's least inspiring works, Astro Bot is phenomenal (that's the closest to top-tier PlayStation this generation), Forbidden West is worse than Zero Dawn (and honestly mediocre) — haven't played Yotei, but it doesn't really look much more interesting than AC Shadows. Rich, you forgot Returnal, which I actually do think is fantastic, even if I don't like the Rogueness of it. I love Rift Apart, but wouldn't call it much more than a solid-ass Ratchet — and not necessarily the best one, at that. And Demon's Souls isn't Bloodborne.

And that I can summarize an entire generation of first-party releases in one paragraph really says it all.

I still love the design of the console. It's so different and kinda outlandish but that makes me love it even more.

Granted I built a new PC last year and used an all white tower, so there may be bias on my own taste for electronics, but who knows lol.

N.i.c.e.the ps5 is doing it's thing.word up son

It is indeed quite impressive. By this point during PS4 cycle, I have already owned 3 x PS4. Traded in PS4 with sim and then with pro. Each time only paid a small amount. But Sony no longer do this kind of promo in PS5 and I am still stuck with original digital edition.

PS2 back when you didn't have to decide between eating and gaming.

I keep reading comments on Purexbox about how ps5 is stalling etc etc etc. Utter tripe. Don’t drag ps down to Xbox level 🙈

@RoomWithaMoose yawn some people are never satisfed..

@johnedwin Shrugs

I just think Sony has done a lot better in the past.

@GamingGod The cope over there can get insane. PS5 on its own has outsold every Xbox console ever made.

@ButterySmooth30FPS And now they have Steam releasing a PC hybrid before them....

@Oram77 I saw that on NintendoLife. Controller looks horrible...

Playstation 5 has been the best console yet in my opinion, there's been more games I've played and would rate a 9 or 10 so far on PS5 than the entirety of the PS4 gen.

@GamingGod That's just their way of coping with the downfall of Xbox, they try and justify it by saying Playstation is stalling yet figures say otherwise.

Must be hard times for them as steam just announced an hybrid console before them and will most likely gain more attention than the new Xbox.

Even despite having less content per year and having a large chunk of them on PC. It’s as if going to PC doesn’t take away from the console player base. Who knew? I like Sony’s direction of having more games playable outside of the console box and now steaming direct to a handheld with no console needed. I think this will help them and not hurt them long term. They are really good at moving consoles, but that can only make so much, now go get some of that other money.

@Rich33 this is the first Gen where I've been overwhelmed by constant new releases. If you like gaming, this gen has been incredible.

@ButterySmooth30FPS it's the 8GB Vram too. It all seems surprisingly half-assed by Steam. Obviously pricing and availability in multiple regions will determine if it's actually going to make bank.

@cainhurst94 @Shepherd_Tallon
I can be a bit 'picky' with games, but this is the 1st gen I can remember that I haven't had as much time as I want to replay favourites - due both to so many new games, and my 'want to replay" list being much larger.

@cainhurst94
8Gb ? - I thought there were multiple complaints about a recent RTX50 series GPU only having 8Gb of VRam, and that 12 was considered bare minimum if you want it to still be relevant in a couple of years time?

@cainhurst94 Oh.... oh no! Well, maybe SteamOS will be more efficient with that than Windows?

@MamaSymphonia If you own a high end PC gaming rig and doesn't bother with all PC problems like waiting for years to play PS 1st party games, graphic card compatibility, OS problems, bad ports, no physical release etc then there's no reason for you to buy a PS5 or PS console at all.

@Rich33 yeah I'm genuinely surprised by that but I'm guessing Valve does not have access to Nintendo or Playstations economies of Scale.

@ButterySmooth30FPS one can hope but there are certain games Like BF6 that require Windows to run because of their anti cheat. So it already seems to not have the seamless plug and play of traditional consoles.

@Rich33 complete hyperbole. anyone who agrees with this sentiment likely never grew up in the 90s and 2000s and experienced the ps1/ps2 era of gaming. it is a night and day difference. the ps5 brought absolutely nothing new to the table and this is easily the worst generation in sony's history as far as the software library is concerned. i can guarantee that if push square decided to take a poll of how we as the community would rank sony's consoles, the ps5 would rank last by a wide margin. if not last, second last. the best thing about this console cycle is the plethora of great indi games... all of which can be found on pc anyways. by comparison, the AAA and AA industry has fallen flat on its face and is void of innovation and fresh ideas. that side of the industry has been complacent over the past 10-15 years, but at least we were getting new IPs from the likes of sony on the ps4... new IPs on the ps5 have been lacking to a great extent.

prior console generations also never experienced a pandemic, where people were isolated and spending absurd amounts of money on home entertainment to pass the time by. i wonder how many ps5's were purchased during that duration which otherwise would never have been purchased? the amount of software? we will never know, but if sony thinks the ps6 will sell at the same pace as the ps5 for doing the bare minimum and riding on the coatails of 3rd party software, including the service game slop that is keeping sony profitable via microtranslations, they are in for a rude wake-up call.

@ButterySmooth30FPS steam machine will be plug n play like a console, but will also be a PC. And there are no more bs in modern PCs, not that I came across with.

@PuppetMaster i got a prebuilt and haven’t had any problems so far 3 and a half years in. PC has came a long way and isn’t nowhere near as bad as people here at pushsquare keep saying

If people still want something and have the time, money and enough games, or find the time to get one sure.

Steam console/machine, VR and Steam Controller V2 are pretty cool to see, Sony needs more devs supporting the touchpad it's getting ridiculous and Steam users seeked the motion controls themselves, like come on. I only found it vibration scaling, touchpad use cases and gyro more in AA Japanese games then any other devs on PS4 ever used them. Just saying.

People moved on I assume with GTA5 server once cut from PS3/360, people may over time when live services force them to or not. Who knows. Disk production only effects collectors that seek out certain titles anyway.

Hardcore do when they get the chance or see reason to.

By all means if people are interested I can see why they would and the many retail discounts I've seen in JB HiFi or other retail stores around the world are understandable, from Sony directly or whatever the case.

I mean Sony has special editions sometimes but even then it's more so controllers due to the plates, like the 360 or others face places.

I'm not, but I'm not Sony or Microsoft's target audience either. I will bother when they are cheap or 'have games' worth my time which they don't.

I have access to them from others around me but I've played 2 games, beat 1, I'm good. Staying on PS4 or getting my PS5/Series games on Switch 1 that I haven't. Not interested in Switch 2 yet either.

Even then Playlink games aren't back compat so might as well keep my PS4 as I may want to do a video on them or something covering past PlayStation peripherals/game brands that other Youtubers aren't when they cover Eye Toy or Move or PSVR, as they don't know the app archive or firmware for phones or care to dig into it like i did.

Tbf reading about this new Steam box it doesn't sound like anything special, it's weaker than the PS5 so will launch next year already out dated with the next gen consoles a year away, can't see it selling more than a couple of million. There's a reason their previous steam machine (2015) got discontinued after three years.

@PuppetMaster Yeah you need to spend over a thousand (if not double that) to get a high end PC that can play everything without any tinkering in the settings and downloading additional software and drivers to make sure games run well. I've seen the state some games run on the deck and how many loopholes you have to jump through to get games running reasonably and that's at 720p 30fps locked which is something some playstation games get mocked for.

This new Steam box being weaker than the PS5 and most likely cost more than the PS5 is just not worth it in 2026, it's going to be very niche.

@UltimateOtaku91 It's not a mainstream device and that's clear. This won't be perfect, they are doing it in a round about way and it could be better yes (I won't deny other strategies could be used yes but they are doing it the way they are and see something in it).

I mean sure there is tv series/movies on Steam, but who cares?

Sony/Microsoft know what they put into their consoles and it shows, from gaming, streaming, and all the functionality we get.

For some people I talk to they are interested or had wanted something to fit the current Steam Machine idea for a while now it's just good to see it finally happen.

Even the Deck, to the translation layers, to the other factors, to Linux, it's fair for 'that' audience and users not having to use Windows or other aspects but even then it is not perfect and we all know that.

I don't see it as competition just an option. Not the 'best' option but 'an option'. For a certain audience interested enough in the idea.

Not everyone needs a Playdate or Evercade or others after all.

This is just another attempt at the Steam Machine 10+ years later, sure 1400p and ok specs, adding standards like Steam Deck did for game compatibility.

It's not to compete as a 4th player in the console wars.

If people want an easy standard device then working out specs, this device does it and that's a welcome thing to see in the PC space for some users, tech savvy or not.

It will take time no doubt.

I mean Valve could go more expensive but why bother to compete that way anyway. If it flops why waste a lot of money and not get enough return on it. Make attempts as they go.

People want the end result and best thing ever but a company can always see reason in that.

Or companies have another angle like the other devices I mentioned.

Or I guess other PC handhelds that are offering the specs, or other features to controllers, etc.

Or people get too competitive/sports team like and want console wars when that's just not practical for a business.

For what Valve is going for I think it's a fair step. It will take a while but it's interesting to see them attempt it then just a be storefront forever as they know more can be done and it shows.

Heck the new VR headset with Foveated Streaming (I mean the dongle wasn't Wii U local and more middle man wifi dongle so sure like anything else, Steam Link included) or Android sideloading was exciting but even still.

My expectations are low but still excited.

@Max_the_German Tbh PS5 sales roughly in line with the PS4 gen at this point in.. that lost 20 million vs last gen have moved over to PC and with the Steam Machine out next year I will expect the home console market to shrink further.

The PS5 generation has been great for hardware, but software exclusives have been a fair bit less than those of the PS4 generation. Some significant mistakes have also been made around GaaS.

It's only selling in line with the PS5 in year 5, and nearly all those lost Xbox console players have moved over to PC.

@CutchuSlow Yes, SteamOS is certainly a more streamlined experience than the spyware masquerading as an OS known as Windows 11. I'm guessing it'll be $1,200.

Still PLENTY of BS in PC world, though! Motherboards frying CPUs, melting GPU power connectors, AIOs clogging, kernel-level anti-cheat, RAM shortage courtesy of the AI gold rush, Windows updates bricking SSDs, and etc.

@Porco Yes, poll the site that largely despises Sony and the PS5 and of course you'd get a negative result!

@ButterySmooth30FPS "Motherboards frying CPUs, melting GPU power connectors, AIOs clogging, kernel-level anti-cheat, RAM shortage courtesy of the AI gold rush, Windows updates bricking SSDs, and etc."

I've never encountered any of these issues. These are probably just user error. And not the fault of the hardware. I bought my 1st PC in 2015 and it still works. I gave it away and built one from scratch 2 years ago and had no issues with that either. And I'm not experienced in this sort of thing. I don't currently have an AIO, but I plan on getting one in the future if I upgrade my CPU. And if CPUs are getting fried, it might be because there wasn't enough thermal paste or the cooler wasn't cooling. And power connector melts if there's a pin missing or isn't connected all the way.

When you hear about issues like these online, find the cause and you will learn from their mistakes, so it doesn't happen to you.

I don't know anything about what kernal level anti cheat is. Is that bad? And also yes windows is poo.

If the steam machine is £1200, I don't think anyone would buy it. It has to be under £500. Hoping the cheapest edition would be under £400. If it costs more, then I wouldn't care, I weren't going to buy it anyway. Got a PC already.

@nomither6 Those problems did exist and well documented. And I have a friend who's a big AMD fanboy + PC master race and he despised game console. He thinks people overblown PC problems but he keeps complaining to me about his expensives PC rig got problems lol.

@UltimateOtaku91 Yeah it's nice to know that PC gaming still has the same BS from 10-15 years ago. But i think it's worst right now that people got baited to spend $1000+ if they want smooth gaming experiences.

I myself used to owned a PC rig good enough to run Crysis 1 at mid setting. Then came The Witcher 2 and somehow my rig can only run it at low setting. So i upgraded good enough to run Witcher 2 at mid-high setting. But somehow some of my old games didn't work because they're not compatible with new graphics card. At that point, i just had enough and stick with PS for my gaming needs.

I think i spent more than $600-700 for that rig, felt as if i wasted good money that i should spend for games on console.

I’m sad the incredible throughput has not been utilised by first party devs. So much potential to only need to generate the visible part of the game and open up resources to make that truly special.

I suspect Sony’s plans to release most first party games on PC has something to do with that. And third party was never going to really look at it.

@Rich33 for me previous generous were much better because of the sheer amount of games than came out to suit everyone’s tastes. This generation for me hasn’t really had anything that peeks my interest and if it did too much content which I don’t want to see in my entertainment. I mostly use my PS5 and series X to play last generation titles. I really hope that the next four years will have more current generation only titles that bring some of the passion back for gaming.

Console gaming is more popular than ever! It’s not that the PS5 is so good this generation. Sony really has had it easy due to Microsoft’s incompetence and inconsistency. So many people know PlayStation.

@Balaam_ definitely not the best and it’s not just Sony that needs to be roasted. Collectivity the gaming industry is at a low right now. As the suit types have taken away the love for the art in pursuit of the next big thing. Courtesy of the marvel effect. In which every entertainment executive only wants big profit products ideally just one or two. What made previous generations enjoyable was the fact that many games came out and studios were willing to make lesser smaller games in between big budget ambitions projects. And it was okay as long as titles could make some money but that isn’t good to many executives these days.

@Porco
I started gaming on the Speccy+2 and have been gaming ever since; through 8bit, 16bit, 32/64bit, and all the way up to now, and thats my view - these days I only generally play AAA, and AA.
You are of course entitled to your opinion, but that does not make my opinion wrong.

Sony should be proud of the PS5 itself - key design aspects including the SSD and dualsense made it a clear step up from the PS4. However, there has been a whole series of blunders on their part, which gamers have paid the price for:

The misfire of the PSVR2: the tech was a good evolution but there was a complete failure to support it with software or proper marketing.

The PS5 Pro. Mark Cerny claimed we wouldnt need to make the choice between performance and fidelity and that's a promise not kept. The gains I see are marginal, developers have struggled with it and its development was arguably pointless.

Worst of all is the strategy around software. Sony had a winning formula for PS4 that it failed to double down on. Frustratingly we have a great machine but insufficient great 1st party games to play on it. Beguiled by Fortnite and its ilk they went down the wrong path.

Luckily every mistake they made was duplicated tenfold by Microsoft whose incomprehensible dual machine and subsidised subscription (and also no games) approach has been a disaster for them.

Well deserved. There are a wealth of great games out there catering to a wide range of gamers and many people just want a hassle free way to play them, so while I get other spheres of gaming such as mobile are growing faster there are a lot of console gamers out there. Sony has remained dedicated to the console vision so it’s unsurprising it reaped the benefits. Developers flock to the system (by all accounts the cheapest/easiest to develop for) and gamers flock to the system (not the cheapest console but it has the widest developer support and the price/performance balance is reasonable).

As a fan of Returnal, Horizon Forbidden West, Helldivers 2, GT7, Astrobot, God of War Ragnarok, Spiderman 2, Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2 I’d argue Sony haa offered a better lineup of games than some on the internet give it credit for. Games generally take longer to make this gen but they usually have longer tails in the form of paid and free post launch content.

Standing on the shoulder of giants - or, in this case, the PS4.

I'm starting to feel that sony's main competitor is becoming Valve and steam. They try hard to make more money from casuals and they keep pushing new hardware. Steam deck was successfull enough to pursuit this direction.

@Balaam_ I was there for the PS1 and PS2 generations. PS2 was my favorite generation for first party games. There was so much variety in terms of gameplay and art styles. You had lighthearted platformers like Ratchet and Clank to moody RPGs like Dark Cloud to darker games like Mark of Kri and Shadow of the Colossus. Sure, you can argue that the games are better now, but you can't really argue that the variety and output of first party games has greatly decreased.

@Vaako007 You must not be looking very hard then. There's plenty of unique and good titles. Look at the top 100 games of the year on Metacritic for the past couple of years. You're telling me nothing piques your interest?

@ButterySmooth30FPS And it's all sunshine and rainbows with consoles? Systems have been bricked by firmware updates, console whine, overheating, etc.

@cainhurst94 Half-assed or is it Valve trying to keep it reasonably priced?

@Lanmanna we will find out when they reveal it. But they're saying it'll be around the cost of an entry level PC which is 500-800 bucks. I don't see mainstream breakthrough at that cost even with HL3.

@Lanmanna There are thousands of ways things can go wrong with PC hardware and software, especially when people are buying their own components. Of course consoles can have issues, too, especially the older ones like PS3 and Xbox 360, but modern ones have been quite reliable.

@KnightRider1982 Are there things I wish were different? Of course, but happy overall.